Thanks for the responses. In looking at some of the other sources out
there, including the wikipedia article (d'oh! I suppose I should have
looked there first), I think the biggest factor I was missing is the
"bruising" stage. This seems to be part of the oxidation process,
along with withering. The oxidation process seems to be ongoing too.
In fact, I think MarshalN must be right that oxidation happens from
the moment a leaf is picked until the kill green stage. So maybe I can
take an oversimplification and make it more simple by categorizing the
process into even fewer steps as follows (with some variables sub-
categorized):

1. Harvest variables
a. natural characteristics surrounding tea growth and harvest (e.g.,
weather, soil type, climate)
b. how picked
c. age and type of leaves

2. Early bruising and drying variables
a. degree of drying/withering
b. method/degree of bruising

3. Kill Green variables (method of kill green is only real variable
here)

4. Shaping variables
a. method
b. shape

5. Roasting variables
a. time and temperature
b. heat source

I would imagine that all of these variables can be described for a
particular tea based solely on the taste and visual inspection of
leaves by an experienced tea drinker (if there are any professional
tea purchasers out there who want to weigh in on that, I'd be
grateful).

Charles